The weekend of the 19th-20th October, our U16 and Open Boys age groups recently competed at the inaugural Mile Regatta on the Vaal River, hosted by St Andrew’s School for Girls. This regatta marks the revival of the prestigious River Vaal Regatta, last held in 2009.
Despite Sunday afternoon’s races being cut short due to storms, St Alban’s College completed all our racing. The regatta followed a Henley Royal Regatta format—two-crew, side-by-side knockout racing.
U16 Highlights: Our coxed four crew continued their progress in sweep rowing, reaching the semi-final before being edged out by a spirited St John’s team, who finished 2nd overall. The A-quad put up a strong fight, but narrowly lost in the semi-final to K.E.S., while the same crew defeated our B-quad in the quarter-finals.
For the first time, we fielded an U16 eight, combining our A-quad and coxed four. This newly formed crew beat K.E.S. by two lengths in the quarter-final before being bested by the unbeaten St Benedict’s team in the semi-final—a significant milestone for our club.
Open Highlights: In the Open age group, we competed in two events: the eight and the quad. Our 2nd quad faced a tough semi-final against K.E.S., but our 1st quad triumphed over them in the final, proudly taking home the Glave Trophy—a new addition to this regatta, donated by our club.
In the eight, we combined our two quads and, despite a valiant effort, lost by just ½ a length to K.E.S. in the quarter-final. K.E.S. went on to narrowly lose to St John’s in the semi-final, while the final between St John’s and St Benedict’s could not be raced due to weather conditions.
Overall, it was a fantastic weekend of racing and camaraderie for our boys, who camped at the venue from Friday. This experience has prepared us well for the upcoming training camp and the Gauteng Champs—our main focus this term.
A big thank you to the organisers for a well-run event, to our dedicated staff, and to the many parents who supported with catering, camping, and the creation of the beautiful trophy we donated.
#StAlbansCollege #TheBrotherhood #BrothersOfTheBlade #MileRegatta #RiverVaal
